Key Facts
- Founded
- 710 CE by Şālih ibn Mansūr
- Duration
- 710 – 1019 CE (~309 years)
- Religion
- Sunni Islam, Maliki school exclusively
- Ruling dynasty
- Banū Şālih (Himyarite Arab descent)
- Capital destroyed
- 1080 CE by Almoravids
Imperial Zenith Metrics
Historical Trajectory
Phase I: Rise
The emirate was founded in 710 CE when Şālih ibn Mansūr received a Caliphate grant to govern the Rīf region of present-day Morocco. He guided local Berber tribes toward Islam, though they briefly deposed him in favor of Dāwūd al-Rundī of the Nafza tribe before restoring Şālih. His dynasty, the Banū Şālih, established the capital first at Tamsāmān before relocating to Nekor.
Phase II: Zenith
At its height, the Emirate of Nekor functioned as the first autonomous state in the Maghreb, distinguished by its exclusive adherence to Sunni Maliki Islam. The town of Nekor served as a regional hub with connections to Ifrīqiya and al-Andalus, as evidenced by ceramics found at the site, alongside a mosque, hammam, and substantial defensive walls.
Phase III: Decline
The Banū Şālih dynasty ruled until approximately 1015, after which the emirate weakened and its capital Nekor was destroyed in 1080. The region was subsequently absorbed into the expanding Almoravid domains, then passed to the Almohads and later the Marīnids, ending the emirate's existence as an independent political entity in the Rīf.
Notable Imperial Reigns
Selected rulers mapping the empire’s trajectory